


Headache

by issiefrancis



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 04:37:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9419063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/issiefrancis/pseuds/issiefrancis
Summary: Erin is very stressed. Holtzmann gets a lot of fanmail. Abby and Patty are conveniently absent. Some fluff.





	

This is the last straw. She's been on the edge of having a breakdown for days, stress after stress after stress being dumped on her shoulders. It's almost nine pm and she's still working, trying to make sure they keep their funding, filling out Jennifer's paperwork. She's the one who has to collate all their work as well, from Patty's ordered notes to Holtz's random notes on everything from torn out pages of Erin's notebook to sanitary pad wrappers.

Why won't anyone just _help_ her? Or even just _ask_ how she's going. A rant to Holtz and a sympathetic wink would go a long way towards settling her feelings. But Holtzmann's been lost in her own work the past two days, and Abby and Patty are on a bust upstate. She's all alone.

Erin sighs at the massive pile of mail; that's her next job. The mailman shrugged when he delivered it, used to the deluge of fan-mail. Erin hates it. It's just more unnecessary work. She would go so far as to say that if Holtzmann showed her face right now she might strongly dislike it.

She drags the box over to the table and slowly begins sorting. _Holtzmann. Holtzmann. Jillian Holtzmann_ with a heart drawn on it. One is simply addressed to _the gay one_. Most of it is for Holtz. A smaller pile for Patty and a couple for Abby. The square root of fuck all for Erin except a stack of bills and paperwork addressed to the collective Ghostbusters. These she opens to deal with. There's a few bills, some paperwork from the mayor, a couple of science journals they subscribe to.

Erin slowly gathers Holtzmann's mail and trudges up to the lab to deliver it. "Holtz? I have some mail. Here you go." She's near robotic in tone and step as Holtzmann reaches out.

"Er-Bear, what's wrong? C'mon. Sit down." Holtzmann pats a stool by her workbench. "You've been off-colour lately, huh? Would you like to talk about it? Or just sit quietly? Hand gestures are fine." Holtzmann smiles gently at Erin. Erin holds up two fingers to indicate the second option and Holtzmann nods. "I'm here if that changes. Have some letters." She slides a few envelopes to Erin and starts opening other ones herself. She scans them, then begins writing on a legal pad, checking something on the letter every few moments.

"You reply?" Erin whispers, breaking the silence.

"Every single one of 'em. You can help if you want." Holtzmann produces another pad and pen from somewhere and hands them to Erin.

Erin opens the first one apprehensively. It's about a young queer girl who lives in a Christian household and has to hide her sexuality. She drops it like a hot potato and grabs another one. This one is about a girl who just got into MIT and wants to study nuclear engineering because of Holtz. She feels more qualified to answer this one, so she begins writing a kindly response, leaving the bottom blank for Holtz to sign.

It's the one after that which gets her. It's from a young lesbian who is haunted by the ghost of a homophobic grandparent. It's too personal and Erin's feeling far too rocky to deal with it right now, and then she's crying, dashing her hand across her face, trying not to let Holtz see.

"I've gotta-" _broken breath_ "-go, I'll, uh, see you tomorrow." She flees and is nearly down the stairs when Holtzmann grabs her cuff.

"Sorry," Holtz immediately apologises, letting go. "You just weren't hearing me. What's wrong, Er? You know I'm always here for you."

Erin furiously scrubs the tears from her face. "'m fine." She's petulant, but the frustration of the past few weeks is bubbling up and taking itself out on Holtzmann. _Of all people_.

"I'm not an idiot, Erin. Come on, let's get you to bed." And like a sick child, Erin stumbles after her into the bedroom and obeys her soft instructions to get changed into the pajamas she is handed.

Holtz leaves, presumably to give her some privacy, and returns five minutes later with two mugs of hot cocoa. Wordlessly, she sits beside Erin and wraps her arm around her shoulders, offering a mug of cocoa.

"Do you always answer them?" Erin asks, voice husky.

"Yes."

Erin sips her cocoa. "Is it hard?"

"I cry. So much." Holtzmann looks down, embarrassed. "I want to help all of them. I wish I could." The silence between them is understanding. Erin can't bring herself to be mad at Holtz right now. She wants her to stay, selfish as it is.

"Holtz, would you-"

"Oh, sorry." Holtzmann springs up. "Sleep here. I'll leave you in peace, you look shattered."

"I'd like to talk about it," Erin says, voice tiny. She's scared of taking too much, scared of hurting their precarious friendship, the balance of their family.

"Now? I can stay if you want."

Holtzmann is too fricking perfect and understanding, and Erin ends up pouring her heart out. She tells her how she wishes that Abby and Patty (and Holtz, but that's left unspoken) would help more. She's so tired of doing all the monotonous work to keep them running; it hurts her head and her heart. She ends up crying more, eyes stinging, Holtzmann cradling her softly.

"Er-Bear, I'm so sorry. I didn't realise there was so much, or that you were so stressed about it." Holtzmann strokes her head. "I'm sure the others will understand if you talk to them. We can spread it around more evenly."

"I'm scared…" Erin all but mouths.

"Of what?" Holtz hears the whisper and furrows her brow.

"Of losing you guys."

"Never. Honestly. This isn't a big deal-" seeing Erin's trembling lip, she hastily amends, "-I mean, it's a big deal for you because you have to deal with it. But it won't affect our family, is what I mean. Didn't mean to invalidate you there, Er. Sorry." Holtzmann rubs between her shoulders.

Erin nods slowly in response.

"You want to have a meeting? We can all talk about it. I'll back you up, okay?"

"Holtz?" Erin sits up. "Thank you. This means a lot to me."

"No problem."

And then Erin kisses her, cocoa forgotten on the floor, skirt hiked awkwardly around her thighs. Holtz kisses back, then pulls away a little. "I'm always here for you, Erin."

"Shut up and kiss me," Erin responds, twining a hand through her hair.

**Author's Note:**

> Whoops. I've been busy. Sorry. I know I have other unfinished things to work on. This is all I've written of this and I'm unsure if it warrants a second chapter or if it's destined for life as a oneshot. We will seeeeeee.


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